2018 AT&T Business Summit: Recap

Highlights from the second annual conference

I had the pleasure of meeting some brilliant folks, interviewing a number of key AT&T executives, creating great content related to the conference, and collaborating with influential people in various business and security spaces.

1. Keynotes

I really enjoyed the keynotes that kicked off each day of the conference. I especially enjoyed Anderson Cooper – CEO of Conversations – talking about executing in a digital world with recently-merged Warner Media Group’s CEO, John Stankey.

Additionally, Thaddeus Arroyo, CEO of AT&T Business and Cathy Engelbert, CEO of Deloitte, discussed digital transformation. They focused on not getting stuck in the old, but, instead, learning from the old while focusing on the new, as well as the importance of diversity and its need to be addressed and implemented.

2. Campaigns

AT&T Business doesn’t just build cutting-edge security offerings, it also support the efforts of others to enter the space. AT&T created a campaign for Black Girls Code, and donated $350,000 to the organization, thereby helping a diverse group of driven, committed women ages 7 to 17 become innovators in STEM fields and leaders in their communities. Kudos to AT&T Business leading by example of what it means to help raise up the next generation of innovators!

I had the pleasure of meeting some brilliant folks, interviewing a number of key AT&T executives, creating great content related to the conference, and collaborating with influential people in various business and security spaces.

3. Blockchain

I had the pleasure of doing a number of video interviews with Andy Daudelin, AT&T vice president of Alliances Business Development. Daudelin works with the firm’s alliance partners to develop leading edge solutions in the market, while also heading up the blockchain initiative.

4. Panels

I attended and covered many interesting panels that were held throughout the Summit. A few highlights of interesting sessions:

International law and how it pertains to collecting intelligence

Considerations to keep in mind when dealing with active defense

"Get Our Stuff Back": Running through some real-life scenarios of information, data, etc., being stolen, and the legalities of getting it back

The dark side of AI and machine learning and its implications on cybersecurity

Securing 5G and enabling edge cloud architecture

5. AlienVault

I enjoyed meeting and interviewing Javvad Malik, security advocate at AlienVault, which was recently acquired by AT&T. We discussed the ways that cybersecurity has already advanced – as well as how it is advancing today.

6. Closing the gap

I was also lucky enough to catch up with my friend Shelley Zalis, CEO of FILLIN. Zalis moderated a panel titled “Closing the Inclusion Gap in Media” with actress Reese Witherspoon and Fiona Carter, chief brand officer for AT&T.

What’s more, I very much enjoyed being on the panel: “From Customer to Co-Founder, the Rise of Women Owned Businesses.”

These are obviously only a few of the highlights from the 2018 AT&T Business Summit – there were over 140 sessions! I look forward to next year’s summit!

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